UPI Almanac for Monday, Jan. 21, 2019

On Jan. 21, 2009, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., won near-unanimous Senate confirmation as U.S. secretary of state. She took the oath of office later that day.

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United Press International

On January 21, 2009, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., won near-unanimous Senate confirmation as U.S. secretary of state. She took the oath of office later that day. File Photo by Matthew Cavanaugh/UPI | License Photo

Hispanic Federation President Jose Calderon makes remarks before pro-immigration demonstrators supporting the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program outside the U.S. Capitol on Friday in Washington, D.C. On January 21, Jan. 21, 2003, the U.S. Census Bureau said Hispanics had moved past African Americans as the largest minority group in the United States. Photo by Mike Theiler/UPI | License Photo

In 1915, the English steamer Durward, traveling from Leith to Rotterdam, was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine near the mouth of the Meuse. The crew was rescued by a Dutch pilot boat and landed at the Hook.

In 1949, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek headed for exile, resigned his position as president of Nationalist China to clear the way for negotiations with the Chinese Communists to end China's three-year civil war.

In 1954, in odd news, a Connecticut man obtained a divorce on grounds of desertion after concluding his wife wasn't coming back. She left 45 years before.

In 1954, the world's first atomic-powered submarine, the Nautilus, was launched at Groton, Conn.

In 1976, the supersonic Concorde airplane was put into service by Britain and France.

In 1990, U.S. tennis star John McEnroe became the first player to be disqualified from the Australian Open after an outburst in which he broke his racquet, yelled at a linesman and erupted into a string of curses.

In 1996, an overloaded ferry, the Gurita, capsized during a storm off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, killing 340 people.

In 1997, the full U.S. House of Representatives voted 395-28 to reprimand Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., for violating House rules and misleading congressional investigators looking into his possible misuse of tax-exempt donations for political purposes.

In 2012, signaling what observers believed to be a new political era in Egypt, Islamist parties won 47 percent of the seats in parliamentary elections.

In 2014, a report from three former war-crimes prosecutors said they found evidence of widespread killings and torture by forces of the government of Syria. The report, which included thousands of photographs apparently smuggled out of the war-torn country, told of killings that were "systematic, ordered and directed from above."

In 2017, millions of people gathered worldwide for the Women's March protesting the election of President Donald Trump, who was inaugurated the day before. Up to 500,000 attended the Washington, D.C., event.